For a moment, it seemed the Washington Capitals had figured out the Carolina Hurricanes after just one game. After losing the opening clash of their Eastern Round 2 series 2-1, the Capitals pulled one right back, winning Game 2, 3-1. Unfortunately, it’s all been downhill since then, as the Canes now have full command of the situation with a 3-1 series lead after Game 4. And Coach Spencer Carbery can’t seem to treat the illness despite knowing the symptoms.

“At this point, how much of this is execution? It just seems like they’re executing on more plays, and you guys are maybe making it difficult on yourselves with some of the mistakes and lack of execution,” a reporter asked Carbery after the Canes just earned another dominant victory over the Alex Ovechkin and Co. While the 5-2 score line looks marginally better than the 4-0 shutout loss in Game 3, the playsoffs are no place to make marginal improvements. “Yeah, I mean, that’s pretty accurate,” admitted the Caps coach during the post-game interview.

“I mean, we’re giving ourselves some opportunities. We’re just not executing, making the play, whatever you want to call it,” added the Washington Capitals head coach. Carbery also explained that the Hurricanes have been capitalizing on “some mistakes” his team is making on the ice. Yet, the issue here isn’t that the Caps can’t execute their game plan, but why it’s happening.

After all, this is not the first time the Canes have shut down the Capitals in this series. Carbery explained that execution became a problem from the very first game in the series. “It wasn’t good, and that’s the bottom line. Our entire game was not good,” the Capitals coach said when discussing his team’s lack of execution after losing Game 1. However, Carbery showed zeal.

“We’ll regroup, and we’ll get ready for game two,” explained the Washington Capitals coach. Game 2 rolled around, and the Capitals seemed to find the perfect response. Or so they thought. Despite a good start to Game 3, they couldn’t find a way past Frederick Anderson. While Carolina struggled in the first period, they scored twice in the second and again in the third period to seal the deal. And although Carbery’s team is trying their best, time has nearly run out on them.

No more trial runs for the Washington Capitals

Game 4 started out the same way Game 3 did for the Caps. It looked competitive right out of the gate, and Carbery admitted they looked good. “We looked excellent to start that hockey game. Fast, pucks were going to good spots, execution was spot-on,” explained the Caps coach. Then, came a bad sore that won’t go away, the Hurricanes scored, and the Caps collapsed.

“Then you have a shift or two shifts where you fail to exit the zone, you just were not able to get that puck past the blue line,” admitted the NHL coach. Despite their best efforts, the Canes took control of the game, and the Washington Capitals struggled to find the answers. In fact, the Caps started fumbling even when they had an advantage. Take the disappointing power play, for example.

“We don’t score on the four-minute and they score at the end of it, at the beginning of the second. That’s a huge game point,” said forward Dylan Strome. Although Jacob Chychrun and Alex Ovechkin helped close the gap, making the scoreline 3-2, they slipped up again with the Canes scoring two more times, with the last one being an empty-netter.

Even a heroic performance by Logan Thompson, who made 32 saves, couldn’t save the Washington Capitals in Game 4. Now the Caps have run out of time and are looking at an early exit unless they can truly crack the code. Unfortunately, they’ve already tried and failed three out of four times. Meanwhile, the Canes are holding true to their game plan, firing a barrage of shots to overwhelm Thompson. “Get used to it. It’s what the Hurricanes have done all year. It’s who they are,” said The Athletic’s Barry Svrluga, and that’s exactly what’s happening.